He Heard Well

Studs Terkel passed away the other day and we are the lesser for it. One obituary I read described him as "the ageless master of listening and speaking" and I must agree. His book, Working, was a classic celebration of working people across America written in their own words. He heard what they said and passed it along to those of us who weren't able to hear them for ourselves. It ought to be mandatory reading for those who take leadership positions in government or large companies for the book gives the other side of the story, as it were.
The books Studs wrote were often seen as targets of banning from school libraries and even public ones. Once, as I recall, he went to a city in western Pa. to personally make his case to keep the book available. I couldn't help but admire that. I thought his books an opportunity to sample parts of America I would likely never see and to visit them using the eyes of someone actually living and working there. I follow in his footsteps, in a very small way, when I go on vacation or travel on business seeking those who live and work where I happen to be; I get the real picture of an area that way not the one in the tourism brochures.
So, my hat's off to Studs for the life he lived and the work he did. He indeed knew how to listen to America.